The Queen has arrived: An Lingrong does not want to fight in the palace after her rebirth

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor was rarely seen in the harem.

All the palaces began to quiet down.

On the fifth day of September, news came from Shoukang Palace that the Empress Dowager was unwell.

The Queen and a group of concubines went to attend to the patient, and soon Prince Dun's wife and the Prince also entered the palace.

Seeing all the concubines in the palace, she felt even more anxious.

The Queen Mother was in a deep sleep after taking the medicine. Prince Dun's wife waited for a long time but no other princes' families came to the palace to take care of her.

Many bad guesses came to her mind, and she kept looking around the hall, hoping to find out something or ask for something that would make her feel at ease. However, everyone's gaze flashed by when they met her eyes, without any eye contact with her at all.

The wife of Prince Dun felt depressed, considering that Prince Dun had been going out frequently during this period and the palace was heavily guarded. What happened in the palace today made the wife of Prince Dun realize that the prince might go to extremes. However, since ancient times, few people who forced a palace to rebel have ever had a good ending. She looked at her two young children and all she could do was hold them tightly to her side.

The particularly solemn atmosphere in Shoukang Palace made Concubine Hua suspicious again. She turned around and whispered to Concubine Cao: "Why do I feel something is wrong?"

Concubine Cao glanced at An Lingrong, who was as quiet as a pine tree, and then at the queen who closed her eyes and prayed, and replied carefully:

"The Queen Mother hasn't woken up yet. It's normal for the sisters to be worried. Just look at the Queen and you'll know."

Concubine Hua looked at her suspiciously, and seeing that no one was talking, she had no choice but to endure and wait together.

The Queen Mother slept for a very long time, and when she woke up it was already night.

Seeing so many people guarding her, the Queen Mother nodded slightly to the Queen:

"This is an old illness of mine. There is no need to mobilize so many people. Let them go when it's almost time."

The Queen originally only wanted to go to Shoukang Palace to pay her daily respects today, but she suddenly heard the news that the Queen Mother was ill. The news was spread with great fanfare, as if it was deliberately made known to people.

The Queen realized something was wrong and immediately returned to the palace to arrange for all the concubines to go to Shoukang Palace to take care of the patient. Her purpose was to test the situation with action. If there really were unusual movements in the previous dynasty, this move would allow the Emperor to see her and her husband's determination to be of one mind. If she guessed wrong, she could also earn a reputation of being filial in the eyes of the Queen Mother.

When the Queen saw Prince Dun's wife, she realized that her bet today was right.

Now that the Queen Mother had woken up, she was even more willing to show off her virtue. She sat down beside the Queen Mother's bed and said softly:

"You are my mother, and the backbone of the harem. When you are sick, I should serve you. The sisters in the other palaces followed me to show their filial piety."

The Queen's words were thoughtful. Everyone had been waiting hungrily for the entire afternoon just to make a good impression in front of the Queen Mother, so they all rushed to speak upon hearing her words.

"Your Majesty, your stomach has been damaged by your illness. I asked the kitchen to cook some porridge for you. Would you like some now?"

"Your Highness, you have been tired for a long time. Why don't you let me relax for you?"

"Empress Dowager, my family sent me some hundred-year-old ginseng, which is very useful for replenishing qi and nourishing the body. I have asked someone to bring it to Aunt Zhuxi. I hope the Empress Dowager will recover soon."

"..."

The wife of Prince Dun, along with her two children, could not squeeze into the crowd. As she was looking around in confusion, Su Peisheng suddenly rushed in with his men, and the noisy crowd suddenly fell silent.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I am sorry to disturb you. I am here on the orders of the Emperor to invite you to visit the Lady, the Prince, and the Princess Gongding." However, he did not specify where he would take the three people.

The wife of Prince Dun turned pale instantly. She tried hard to suppress her fear, protecting her children tightly, and asked in a trembling voice:

"May I ask, Eunuch Su, where does the emperor want me to go?"

The smile on Su Peisheng's face did not fade, but his tone was extremely firm:

"When Madam arrives, she will know. Please go ahead, lest the people below don't know the seriousness of the matter and hurt the child."

Prince Dun's wife said nothing more. She just looked at everyone sadly and resolutely walked into the darkness with her child.

This unexpected change shocked everyone. When they were about to ask a few questions, the Queen Mother spoke quietly:

"It's getting late. I need to rest. You all should go back and live your life well."

This is to advise everyone not to make groundless speculations, and not to engage in unnecessary gossip.

After everyone left Shoukang Palace, they found that the number of guards outside Shoukang Palace was twice as many as usual. As they walked forward, they saw guards with swords walking in a hurry.

The Queen Mother's warning was still ringing in their ears. Everyone swallowed their fears and doubts and focused on getting on with their journey.

Only after returning to their respective palaces did they speculate about what had happened tonight.

The queen was full of confidence and she couldn't wait to hear the news about the downfall of the Nian family the next day so that the manpower she had arranged for a long time would be put to use.

Concubine Hua was upset. She pulled Concubine Cao and kept asking for some affirmation:

"The situation tonight must be because Prince Dun did something extremely treasonous, which implicated his wife and children. My brother was stationed in the northwest with Prince Dun. I am afraid that my brother could not resist Prince Dun's deception and promised something he shouldn't have promised, thus involving the Nian family."

Concubine Cao was also anxious. She usually helped Concubine Hua deal with the most private matters in the harem, but since it involved the struggle for power in the previous dynasty, she, a woman, was completely powerless to provide advice, so she had to pretend to be calm:

"Don't worry, Madam. The general has always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic. The emperor is also a man who cherishes the past. He will definitely not vent his anger on the general for what happened tonight."

Such feeble comfort could not dispel Concubine Hua's worries at all. She sighed:

"My father once told me that the emperor's heart is hard to predict, but I didn't believe it. When the emperor was still a prince, he treated me honestly and passionately. But after he became the emperor, I felt that he had changed. I couldn't see through him anymore."

When she said this, she stood at the door of the inner hall, looking out non-stop, as if waiting for someone or wanting the night wind to wake her up. Although she was wearing brocade clothes, her back revealed an indescribable loneliness. Concubine Cao couldn't bear it for a moment, and stepped forward to persuade her to go back to the bedroom to rest, but she heard Concubine Hua continue to complain:

"It's even worse during this period. He is right beside me, but I always feel like there is something between us. I can only keep asking him for more, wanting to prove that he still loves me as much as before. But what happened tonight has made me doubt whether the emperor's kindness to me during this period was deliberate."

When Concubine Hua said this, Xiao Xia Zi stood by the door with her hands hanging down, and heard every word of it clearly.

Concubine Cao glanced at Xiao Xiazi, afraid that Concubine Hua would say something complaining again, so she stepped forward to interrupt:

"Your Highness, you have been serving the Emperor diligently for a long time. I am afraid you may be sick because of the cold wind at night. I will help you go back to the bedroom to rest."

Hua Fei glanced at Xiao Xia Zi and smiled calmly:

"Since I dare to say this, I am naturally not afraid of these words spreading out."

Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, making Xiao Xiazi's back tighten and she lowered her head even lower unnaturally.

But Concubine Hua didn't expect that the next time she saw the emperor would be a farewell between life and death.